August 10, 2018 2:07pm EDTAugust 9, 2018 12:57pm EDTBoxingEddie Hearn is going after one of the biggest stars in the history of boxing and reveals what conversations he's having with Manny Pacquiao about competing on DAZN.(Amanda Westcott)

CHICAGO - During the buildup and in the aftermath of his seventh-round knockout of Lucas Matthysse in July, Manny Pacquiao stated that he is a promotional free agent and no longer with long-time promoter Bob Arum.

The news of boxing's only eight-division world champion landing on the open market has raised more than a few eyebrows in the boxing world and even had Floyd Mayweather thinking of giving Pacquiao a call to gauge the interest of his chief rival. There's also another promoter with an interest in the Filipino superstar.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said in a July interview that he wasn't sure of Pacquiao's promotional situation at the time and wouldn't reach out to him if he was still under the Top Rank umbrella. But with Pacquiao on the market, Hearn admits that talks are ongoing with the WBA "regular" welterweight champion to put him on DAZN as part of the partnership between Matchroom and the streaming service owned by Perform Group.

"I think Manny Pacquiao is a huge name," Hearn told Sporting News after Wednesday's press conference to officially announce the Oct. 6 card airing exclusively on DAZN headlined by Jessie Vargas and Thomas Dulorme. "He’s undoubtedly towards the backend of his career, but still a huge name. We’d like him on DAZN. We’re talking with him."

Signing Pacquiao to DAZN would be a huge coup for Hearn and the streaming service. Pacquiao's knockout of Matthysse opened the door for lucrative matchups with some of boxing's biggest names and Hearn would certainly see a boost with the living legend in the fold. However, there are issues that would need to be ironed out before we could see Pacquiao stepping competing on DAZN.

"He wants an awful lot of money as you would expect Manny Pacquiao to want and the right fights have to be there," Hearn explains. "I think one of his main interests is to fight outside of the U.S. That doesn’t fit as well for us, away from DAZN. But there are fights: Amir Khan, Jessie Vargas, Kell Brook that we could certainly put on. We’re talking with Manny Pacquiao. Whether it goes anywhere, we’ll see. But, we’re certainly interested to continue those talks."

Perhaps the most interesting matchup that can be made would be a potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Amir Khan showdown. Khan has been after a fight with Pacquiao for several years and remains a name of significance on the global scale in boxing. Both Khan and Pacquiao have run into some speed bumps over the past few years but a fight between the two would certainly draw public interest. Khan is slated to face Samuel Vargas on September 8 in Birmingham, England. The opponent and the fact that a Pacquiao-Khan fight could be staged outside of the United States could be appealing to the Filipino senator.

There's no shortage of options for Manny Pacquiao's next fight, but this one could carry some weight.